It’s been so long… where do I start?

I haven’t touched my sewing machine in MONTHS, and only to shorten a couple of trousers and sew up a small present for a friend. All in all, I haven’t touched my sewing machine for any kind of significant sewing project for more than a year!

My fingers are getting itchy.

I’m starting to feel butterflies in my stomach again when I look at new patterns.

I’m building this fantastic imaginary wardrobe in my head.

After this year-long semi-forced hiatus, I have an overflow of creative juices ready to flood my sewing room!

But many things have changed over the past year. The first and obvious change – I’m more than 50kg lighter than last year at the same date, and there’s this totally new body I have to get used to. I’m now a size 40/42-M/L, not really a plus-size anymore! This opens up so many possibilities I never thought would ever be available to me!

My style has changed a bit too. I still love dresses and skirts, but I now prefer a casual style jeans skirt with sneakers and not a tailored skirt with high heels. It might have something to do with my lifestyle change. I train almost every day either at the gym or outdoors (running, biking), and I prefer to wear comfortable, casual clothes, that are easy to change from and into. Mad Men style wiggle dresses, however gorgeous, don’t really work well with a quick change at the gym straight after work, especially if I have to put it back on after a workout to drive back home. (Yeah, I prefer to shower at home than at the gym. Sue me.)

My previous autumn/winter wardrobe is in shambles, as I kept on losing weight and getting leaner and thinner in the course of spring and summer. I’m not sure I’ll be able to salvage many pieces that still fit. Perhaps a couple of tops. Or maybe that one pair of trousers that was still a bit tight back in May. In other words, I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR FOR THE COMING AUTUMN/WINTER SEASON. And believe me, I’m not the only one who shrank – my budget has gotten quite thin too. Sports gear costs a lot of money, ya know 😉

My weight loss is not as spectacular now as it was the first months, and I don’t think I’ll lose more than 10-15 kg until the end of 2013.

Time to start sewing again. I have kilometers of fabric in my stash. I have boxes full of patterns.

But where to start? Here’s my plan:

Dig in my patterns stash and purge it from what is now too big. Put these (mostly unused) patterns in my Etsy shop, and hopefully make a bit of money 🙂

Book the month of October for sewing! I basically have to wait until the last minute before I start, otherwise I run the risk my new clothes will be too big before I can even wear them… Until the end of October, I think I can manage with what I now have in my closet.

I haven’t looked at my patterns yet, I don’t know which ones I’ll pick. I want to use my stash as much as possible and avoid making new purchases. Small budget, remember?

But everyone needs a treat from time to time, right? So I bought (gasp!) a pattern. I found it last summer online and fell in love head-over-heels! I think it’s been one of my first pins on Pinterest. I (heart) the Watson jack of Paper Cut Patterns:

Comments

Congrats! That is so awesome! I hit a plateau after 25kgs, so I am rethinking my exercise plan as my husband put the kabosh on further food changes. I am so excited to see how your new wardrobe comes along and I have been drooling on that watson jacket as well. I look forward to following your new sewing adventures!